Spring is in the air and it’s a great time to drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park for some hiking and photography. Despite the continuous road construction and delays on Highway 34 up the Big Thompson Canyon, the drive only took me about an hour from Loveland, CO to the Beaver Meadows Entrance Station. It’s always nice to avoid some of the weekend traffic and venture into RMNP on a weekday. Today was no different.

So I have several hikes to cross off of my bucket list, and I know that hiking to Emerald Lake is a short trek, but until today I still hadn’t crossed this one of my list. From the Bear Lake Trailhead the hike to Emerald Lake is just under two miles; however, the entire trail is still covered in snow which makes for a bit more strenuous hike. I had my trekking poles and Microspikes, which helped, but I encountered some other people with cross-country skis and snowshoes. Either way just make sure you’re prepared with some of the basic essentials: water, warm layers, sunglasses, insulated boots, and of course, your camera.

Bear Lake is only a few steps from the trailhead. Today it was still covered with snow and thin ice.

I continued on the trail and reached Nymph Lake, which was also covered in snow but already had tracks leading across it, so I assumed it was safe to traverse over the lake. So on I went.

The next highlight of my hike was when I saw Dream Lake and the views of Hallett Peak and Tyndall Glacier in the distance.

And finally I reached Emerald Lake, which as you can imagine, was also covered with snow. Across the lake I had a perfect view of Tyndall Glacier, and this made a great place for me to have lunch and enjoy the scenery.

Even with the snow-packed conditions the roundtrip only took a couple hours. In the summer months I know my kids would have no problem hiking this trail.

Enjoy the pictures and take advantage of the park. It’s only an hour from your NoCo backyard!